Growing up in Tampa we had days where the lunch was a Cuban sand which and a devil crab. Hard to beat that anywhere. Also always liked the mashed potatoes and gravy. Don't know where it came from but it was good. My daughter attends a charter school and they don't serve lunch. Options include bagged lunch, something to microwave or M/F chik-fil-a, T/R subway, W papa johns pizza.

Growing up in Tampa we had days where the lunch was a Cuban sand which and a devil crab. Hard to beat that anywhere. Also always liked the mashed potatoes and gravy. Don't know where it came from but it was good. My daughter attends a charter school and they don't serve lunch. Options include bagged lunch, something to microwave or M/F chik-fil-a, T/R subway, W papa johns pizza.

Oh man yeah I'd be all over the Cuban sandwich & crab. In fact, I told Mrs. B recetntly that she needs to try a Cuban sandwich next time we're visiting the states.

The Japanese school lunches aren't bad. I've eaten with the students many times. I told them that pizza, a "below average hamburger", French fries, hotdogs, green beans, mashed potatoes, potato chips, cookies, etc. would be some of the standard options. Their usual answer was: "Oiishi ((Delicious))! Lucky!" Was that delicious or lucky? Don't know about that. Sure didn't feel like either at the time.

Growing up in Tampa we had days where the lunch was a Cuban sand which and a devil crab. Hard to beat that anywhere. Also always liked the mashed potatoes and gravy. Don't know where it came from but it was good. My daughter attends a charter school and they don't serve lunch. Options include bagged lunch, something to microwave or M/F chik-fil-a, T/R subway, W papa johns pizza.

Oh man yeah I'd be all over the Cuban sandwich & crab. In fact, I told Mrs. B recetntly that she needs to try a Cuban sandwich next time we're visiting the states.

The Japanese school lunches aren't bad. I've eaten with the students many times. I told them that pizza, a "below average hamburger", French fries, hotdogs, green beans, mashed potatoes, potato chips, cookies, etc. would be some of the standard options. Their usual answer was: "Oiishi ((Delicious))! Lucky!" Was that delicious or lucky? Don't know about that. Sure didn't feel like either at the time.

Growing up in Tampa we had days where the lunch was a Cuban sand which and a devil crab. Hard to beat that anywhere. Also always liked the mashed potatoes and gravy. Don't know where it came from but it was good. My daughter attends a charter school and they don't serve lunch. Options include bagged lunch, something to microwave or M/F chik-fil-a, T/R subway, W papa johns pizza.

Oh man yeah I'd be all over the Cuban sandwich &amp; crab. In fact, I told Mrs. B recetntly that she needs to try a Cuban sandwich next time we're visiting the states.

The Japanese school lunches aren't bad. I've eaten with the students many times. I told them that pizza, a "below average hamburger", French fries, hotdogs, green beans, mashed potatoes, potato chips, cookies, etc. would be some of the standard options. Their usual answer was: "Oiishi ((Delicious))! Lucky!" Was that delicious or lucky? Don't know about that. Sure didn't feel like either at the time.

USA: your vegetable today is...ketchup. And those peas are just ammo for the cafeteria food fight.

It's misleading since every school system is going to use the guidelines differently. Some lunches are shit and some are great. I sure as hell don't want to eat tofu.

I'm not a big fan of tofu myself. But I eat it anyway. And overall, I prefer the J-curry & rice lunch that I mentioned earlier. Still, the fish and rice in that bento with the tofu is still better than the standard American school cafeteria lunch IMHO.

As expected, that article is spot on for the most part...but doesn't tell the whole story.
Little j-kids, junior high, high school students do eat that but they also eat a lot of candy and other garbage. More so than American kids IMHO. It's not the school's fault of course but I think the article might be giving the idea that they're symbols of health and that the society here is extremely health conscious. It is...yet it totally isn't. Candy, smoking, hardcore alcohol consumption, and a severe lack of sleep in adults AND kids are the first things that come to mind.

The biggest difference IMHO between J-kids and American kids diet is that J-kids consume smaller meals, less oily dishes, and fewer soft drinks. This, I believe, is the true difference.

Then there was the bit in the article about the kids cleaning the school because there are no janitors. Yes and no. Kids clean the school but they almost always do a terrible job. It's funky in those restrooms! They usually spray down the bathroom with a hose or splash a bucket of water on those grimy bathroom areas. That's not clean now is it?

Who supervises them? Well, if the teacher is too busy or just flat out lazy, then nobody watches them. And being kids, they'll goof off and find a way NOT to do the work. When I worked junior high schools, it was pretty much a daily thing to find junior high boys sword fighting with mops instead of mopping the restroom. Yeah boys will boys but it also means, if unsupervised the shit will remain where it is: uncleaned and hardening. (Too much information? That's the reality.)

The IDEA of teaching them to take care of one's community is certainly there and it's a great value to instill but it's not enforced very well in most cases. And in almost all cases it doesn't carry over to their home life where their mom cleans up after them every step of the way.